1.—Technical Field
The present disclosure is related to the field of test fixtures for circuits and boards in electronic manufacturing. More specifically, the present disclosure is related to memory installation in test fixtures for circuits and boards in electronic manufacturing.
2.—Description of Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use similar to financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Test fixtures for circuits and boards in electronic manufacturing typically use memory circuits inserted into slots provided by the circuits and boards under test. Memory circuits provided to a test fixture supply the memory needed by the circuit and board to perform test operations scheduled by the test fixture. In a manufacturing environment, hundreds and even thousands of boards and circuits are tested, as described above, in a few hours. Typically, the process of placing the memory circuits in the test bed is performed by hand.
Hand installation of the memory circuits in a test fixture has several drawbacks. First, the procedure is physically exhaustive and painful for the operator. Second, and as a result of the first reason, manual installation of the memory in a test fixture increases the propensity for error in the process. Third, and related to the first two reasons, the number of false errors in the test procedure increases when memory installation is manual. Indeed, operator exhaustion increases the likelihood of errors in placing the memory circuit into the slot. Thus, a circuit or board under test may fail a test simply because the memory circuit is not properly inserted in the slot. Thus, there is an increased cost in product turnover when a circuit needs to be tested more than once to correct a bad memory connectivity issue at the point of test. In addition, the continuous handling of memory circuits used for testing and the stress on the slot connectors or ‘sinks’ in the circuit board result in accelerated degradation of the memory circuits. Thus, memory circuits need to be continuously checked and replaced in state-of-the-art testing platforms. Also, there is the potential to damage the circuit board under test. In particular, manual handling of memory circuits may damage delicate components in the slot sinks.
What is needed is a system and a method for memory installation in a functional test fixture that avoids test errors while preserving the circuit board components and reduces the cost of testing. What is also needed is a system and a method that provides a fast and reliable test platform for printed circuit boards (PCBAs) in information handling systems.